Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitawali (Morena)

The Infinite Circle

The approach to the Chausath Yogini Temple is unassuming. A series of stone steps leads up a modest hill, with little indication of what lies at the top. But once you reach the summit, the structure reveals itself all at once—a wide circular courtyard, enclosed by a ring of stone cells, open entirely to the sky. 

Unlike most temples that guide you inward toward a sanctum, this one opens outward. The central space is empty, the sky forming the only roof, and the surrounding chambers once housed the images of the sixty-four yoginis, associated with esoteric forms of Shakti worship.

Built around the 9th century, the temple is one of the few surviving examples of this distinctive architectural form. Its design is both minimal and deliberate—no towering shikhara, no enclosed sanctum, no elaborate procession of spaces. Instead, the geometry itself becomes the experience.

Standing in the middle of the courtyard, the structure feels both exposed and contained. The circular wall creates a sense of enclosure, while the open sky removes any sense of confinement. Wind moves freely across the space, and the absence of active ritual heightens the awareness of form, proportion, and stillness. The sun moves across the stone floor like a clock hand, highlighting the weathered carvings of the yoginis that once lived in these cells. It is an archive of a time when astrology and mathematics were inseparable from faith, and standing in the centre of that circle, you feel like you are at the exact axis of a giant, ancient sundial.

The temple is often linked to Tantric traditions, though much of that history remains interpretive rather than fully documented. Today, it is less a place of active worship and more a site that invites observation—of how architecture can shape a sacred experience without relying on scale or ornament.